Together

Chapter 13

Botan woke up the next morning to an annoying beeping sound. She rolled over and started searching the nightstand for the thing that was making the noise. She sighed as she found the compact and opened it and said "Hello Koenma."

"Good morning Botan, did I wake you?"

"Yes Koenma but it's alright."

"Botan, I need you to come back to Spirit World as soon as possible" and with that Koenma hung up. Botan sighed and rolled out of bed. She looked around and remembered she had stayed the night at Kurama's. She quickly got dressed and tiptoed downstairs to leave him a note saying she had to leave but would return as soon as she was done. With the she took off and headed back to Spirit World.

Kurama woke up to the sound of the door closing; he had once again slept on the couch while Botan took in the bed. He looked around and his eyes landed on a piece of paper, he got up and picked it up and read it. He was disappointed that she had been called back to Spirit World. He decided to take a shower and get ready for her return.

Botan arrived in Spirit World without trouble and soon found herself in Koenma's office. She cleared her throat and the young prince looked up at her and said "Hello Botan, thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Yes, Koenma, what did you need me for?'

"Well Botan I need you to give something to Yusuke for me, something that might help with the case."

"What is it?"

"Well you remember the spyglass? Well the item is kind of like that but altered so that it may be easier to catch the demons that are finding their way into Human World."

"Alright Koenma, I will. May I go now?"

"Yes" and with that she turned to leave but looked back at Koenma when he said her name. "Botan be careful I have a bad feeling about his one."

"I will Koenma" and she left and closed the door behind her. She made her way to her room; she needed to gather a few things before heading back to Ningenkai. She went to her closet and pulled out a suitcase and began to pack some essentials. Once she was done packing she yawned. She looked longingly at her bed and decided to lie down for a few more minutes before heading back to Kurama's. A few minutes turned into hours, and soon it was afternoon.

Kurama was getting restless, Botan had been gone all day and he was getting bored. He sat at the table drumming his fingers while sipping a glass of tea. Finally he could take it no longer he decided to go to Spirit World and bring her home. He left and made his way to the nearest portal that would lead him to Rekai.

When he arrived at the palace he made his way to Botan's room. He stood outside the door feeling nervous. He knocked and waited but there was no answer, he knocked a second time and still there was no reply. He decided to open her door and see if she indeed was there. He opened the door and poked his head in and looked around. He couldn't see much so he decided to enter her room and look for her. He gazed around the room and found it looked just like her.

He was surprised when he saw photos of the whole gang on a bookshelf. He said her name but there was no reply. He looked around some more and his gaze fell on the bed. He saw a lump under the covers and realized she was asleep. He chuckled at her and decided to wake her up. He slowly and gently sat on the bed and whispered her name, she didn't stir.

He started to shake her and still nothing. He got an idea and leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead and she sighed, she didn't open her eyes so he decided to be playful and started to press kisses all over her face. She giggled and opened her eyes and gasped when she came face to face with Kurama.

"Good morning" he said.

She stuttered out a greeting and then asked "What are you doing here?"

"Well I got tired of waiting around for you to return so I decided to come and get you" he waited a beat before continuing "Would you rather stay here?"

She quickly said "No Kurama I'm sorry I was just really tired and I thought I would sleep some more before coming back."

He smiled and said "Oh". Neither spoke again for a few moments they just sat there smiling at one another until he leaned forward and brought his lips closer to hers but before he could bring them down there was a knock on the door.

He moved away from her and she let out an exasperated sigh. She threw the covers off and stomped to the door and threw it open and shouted "What?"

Kurama heard her lower her voice to a whisper and begin to discuss something in rather hushed tones. She returned a few minutes later blushing.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Oh nothing important just some of the other ferry girls being childish" she replied. He stood up and said "Well shall we go?" she nodded and grabbed her bag. He took it from her like the gentleman he was and they were off.

When they were outside the palace she summoned her oar and they both climbed on. They flew in silence and once the crossed through the portal she landed and they started walking. He decided to take a risk and grabbed her hand, she looked down and then up at him surprised. She didn't pull her hand away in fact she squeezed his in reassurance. They continued walking hand in hand towards Kurama's house talking about their plans for that night. They rounded the corner and his house came into view. They started up the walk to the front door and he immediately let go of her hand when they saw Yusuke, Kuwabara and Keiko waiting outside. Yusuke had his hand raised like he was about to knock.

She couldn't help but feel sad at his action but tried not to let it show on her face. However Keiko did notice and once everyone was inside she pulled Botan to the side and asked her about it.

"Botan are you alright?"

"Yes Keiko, I'm just frustrated right now, it seems every time we get a little time alone we get interrupted."

"Don't worry too much Botan, soon things will change. Just have patience."

While the girls were off in the other room the boys sat and discussed the case Koenma had given them. Before their discussion got too involved the girls came back into the room. Yusuke smiled at Keiko and she blew him a kiss; while Kurama stared adoringly at Botan, who walked over and sat next to him.

"So what are you boys talking about?' asked Keiko as she sat down next to Yusuke. He unwittingly placed a hand on her leg as he replied "The case Koenma gave us."

"Shouldn't we be getting started on it?" asked Kuwabara.

"Yes, but don't you think it's best to try and strategize before diving headfirst into a case?" Kurama stated.

"That's why we have you fox boy" Yusuke said while laughing. Keiko smacked him playfully on the shoulder and said "Yusuke, don't you think it's unfair to rely on Kurama all the time for strategies? You can't expect him to form a plan for every case you get."

Everyone laughed at Keikos comment because they knew that Yusuke, even though he was brave was never one for strategy. Once they had settled Keiko looked over at the clock and saw it was getting rather late. She jumped out of her chair and said "Yusuke look at the time, you should really be getting me home you know."

And with that the three of them got up and made their way to the door. Botan remembered that she had forgotten to give Yusuke the item Koenma had given her and before he walked out the door she said "Yusuke I have something for you from Koenma. He said it might help with the case, it's supposed to help catch the demons getting through the net." She handed him the spyglass and he thanked her and left.

While the spirit detectives had been ironing out the details of their plans the shadow watched and listened intently to their conversation. When he was absolutely sure they didn't know more than he wanted them to he slipped away.

After everyone had left Kurama turned back to Botan and said "So my dear what do you want to do with the rest of our evening?"

She thought for a moment and said "Well we never got to finish the movie we started a few nights ago."

He smiled and said "Alright" and with that he got everything ready to start the movie. When he was done he sat down on the couch and motioned for her to sit down next to him. When she sat down he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaded into him when she settled he placed a kiss on her temple.

Halfway through the movie he looked at her and saw she had fallen asleep, he smiled and wrapped his other arm around her and moved so they were both lying down. Before he closed his eyes he kissed her head and whispered "Goodnight."